# Peterson's Connoisseur's Choice Review



## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Continuing to smoke through my pile of samples from trades. Today was Peterson's Connoisseur's Choice.

Grabbed the jar and put it in my tank bag last night so I could pack the bowl this morning before heading out. Should have opened it last night - upon opening the jar this morning I realized that I had overdone the hydration a bit. It was just about dripping wet when I took it from the jar (at least relatively so), so I set it on a napkin for a few minutes before packing up and heading out.

To the nose, the tobacco was all aro. I could smell vanilla and rum, but none of the other flavors listed on tobaccoreviews - whiskey, coffee, and citrus? Not so much. Still smelled great, and it had an almost nutty note, as if the blend includes some burley - which it doesn't. Just VA and cavendish here, thank you very much. The "burleyesque" note almost spoke of maple, but it wasn't the same. All in all, it smelled great. Packed the bowl with what was still a pretty wet wad of leaf and headed up to the U. 

I figured that the dampness of the tobacco would make it difficult to light, and it did initially. After a bit of tamping, covering the bowl while puffing, and general fiddling around, the pipe set to it with gusto. The tobacco initially was very mild with a bit of VA sweetness mingling with the aforementioned vanilla and rum. And there was that "kind of burley" note as well - particularly on the retrohale. I'm liking this stuff. The pipe burned very cool, and though I had to run a pipe cleaner through the stem twice due to my BTS syndrome with hydration it burned like a champ. Nice and slow, plenty of smoke, and no problems with relights. Had to relight the bowl once about halfway through the smoke, but this seems to be the norm when I smoke aros. After the mid-bowl light it burned down to ashes.

After I reached the middle of the bowl I got a bit of a bite. Nothing to write home about (plenty to write to puff though), but there it was. It wasn't enough to stick around though, and abated as soon as I got down into the bottom quartile of the bowl. The vanilla/rum thing went away for a bit toward the end and I could taste more of that slight nutty flavor, tobacco, and mild sweetness that I usually get from a VA. Nic hit was mild to medium.

In the end, I like Connoisseur's Choice. It was a great mild smoke that would work well in company as the room note seemed pleasant. It was definitely more forward an aro than Uni Flake though, and if that isn't your ticket it might not be your thing.


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## Kelsier (Feb 23, 2012)

This one is definitely my favorite aro. It is my goto blend when I'm smoking in the company of non smokers. It does have a bit of bite - I've found most Peterson blends do though. Not nearly as bad as most other aromatics. This one is much better than their De Luxe Mixture which I picked up in Dublin. Don't even waste your time on that one.


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## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

This blend was bitey when I got the tin three years ago. Jarred it, didn't age too badly for an aro after three years. Upon revisiting it, the bite was gone and the strong aro component had muted a bit, which was good thing for my taste.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

I would have said that the over-hydrating had caused the bite, but apparently it is bite prone. In any case, nice review, Brian! :tu


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## Monday (Aug 14, 2012)

Got a tin of this stuff today.. going to give it a try.


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## 36Bones (Aug 18, 2011)

Great review, Brian. This sounds like a great morning smoke with a nice cup of joe.


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## Lord Wigglybottom (Sep 19, 2008)

That does indeed sound like a very nice smoke. I never got much taste from aros but after that review, this has been added to my targets of opportunity list


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